Engineering consultancy firm, Bara Consulting’s recent moves are paving the way for growth in international markets. This follows the opening of a new office in Canada (Bara Americas) and strengthening of the UK team. By Nelendhre Moodley.
Bara Consulting is a mining, mineral processing and resource evaluation consultancy business servicing junior, mid-tier, and major mining companies, with extensive experience in the completion of project evaluations, techno-economic studies from scoping to feasibility level, due diligence studies, detailed design and optimisation studies as well as operational support for clients worldwide.
Chairman Jim Pooley explains that the company recently appointed Senior Partner and shareholder, Galen White, to the UK arm of the business.
“The recent appointment of Galen White (Partner & Principal Consultant – Geology & Resource Evaluation) further strengthens the growing UK arm of the business. A geologist by background, Galen’s principal focus will be to expand the company’s geology and mineral resource evaluation service offerings from the UK and strengthen collaboration across our global footprint,” says Pooley, who earlier this year stepped aside from the position of MD to focus on new business development – a move that is proving to be invaluable to the company’s growth strategy.
Pooley adds, “Galen White is well known in the mining sector having previously held senior management roles with global mining consultancy CSA Global over 15 years. He was a Partner at ERM following the acquisition of CSA Global by ERM in 2018 and brings with him a wealth of technical consulting and project/client management expertise and experience and an extensive network of industry connections. Since his appointment in September, he has hit the ground running, developing new and existing client relationships and growing the geological arm of the business.”
The UK office, which has a large portion of AIM-listed firm clients advancing projects in West Africa and Europe, continues to do extremely well, having experienced its busiest year to date, says Pooley.
Given South Africa’s challenging operational environment, which sees mining sector growth stymied by red-tape and a laborious regulatory environment, industry players are eyeing international markets for business opportunities.
“As a company targeting growth, we are looking to invest in mining friendly destinations beyond South Africa, where we can provide the collaborative, value-adding, client-focused and expertise-driven consultant offerings we are known for.”
In September, Bara Consulting officially opened its office in Canada, which Pooley says will become the springboard into South America.
The Toronto-based office is ideally located in a key mining jurisdiction with over 40% of the world’s public mining companies being listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) – “a perfect location that is a hive of activity offering plenty of opportunities” to the newcomers.
“Curtis Clark (MD, Bara Americas and Principal Mining Engineer), heads up the newly formed Canadian office and comes to us with extensive industry experience having held technical, management and advisory roles with several mining companies, service companies and consultancies over 35+ years, and has the requisite industry connections,” says Pooley, explaining that the company has established the new office at an opportune time when demand for commodities, especially energy metals, is strong.
“Canada’s mining friendly investment environment also offers the option of a flow through share scheme making it an attractive place for junior miners. In fact, it is much easier to raise capital, advance early-stage mining projects and build a mine in Canada than it is in South Africa, where raising capital for projects is a huge challenge as investors are reticent to invest locally.”
Aside from opportunities to tap into the Vancouver market, which is a stone’s throw away, a key benefit of being Toronto-based is that Canada lies within the same time zones as the South American market, thereby providing efficiency in developing potential business opportunities for Bara Consulting.
“There are many TSX-listed mining companies that are engaged in mining projects in both North and South America.”
The company is also intent on welcoming “more experienced partners” and associates into the fold as it looks to deliver on its objective of bringing new blood into the business and diversifying its shareholder base.
Mining in Africa
MD Etienne de Villiers, who took the helm from Pooley nine months ago, says that business at the South African office has been robust, driven largely by repeat business, with the team “working flat out”.
“We are extremely competitive and consistently deliver a high-quality service. So far, 2023 has proved to be a really successful year for Bara Consulting. Over the past few years demand for commodities has remained strong globally, especially for battery metals such as copper, lithium and graphite, and cobalt and nickel, and we have benefitted from the metals bull run,” says de Villiers.
As a company working across multiple commodities, energy minerals projects are currently a key generator of work with the company involved in “five copper and several lithium, graphite, gold and silver projects.”
“We are busy undertaking design engineering work for a nickel project in Botswana, feasibility studies for Craton Mining’s Omitiomire Copper Project, and Shanta Gold, which is progressing its West Kenya gold project. We are also offering our assistance to Trinity Metals in Rwanda and involved with engineering design work for Walkabout Resources’ Lindi Jumbo graphite project in Tanzania.”
Further to this, Bara Consulting is undertaking several due diligence studies – an indication that the mergers and acquisitions segment of the market is also busy.
“Many companies undertake independent due diligence to verify the value of prospective assets as they consider mergers or acquisitions of mining projects or existing operations, and we are well placed to assist these companies with our experienced geological and engineering resources,” concludes de Villiers.
